


Fill My Head with Pieces of a Song

by dls



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dark, Emotional Non-Con, M/M, Mind Control, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 04:12:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12004764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dls/pseuds/dls
Summary: Tony listened to him.After a lifetime of his words unheard, his wishes ignored, and his wants denied, Loki vowed to treasure this beautiful man for all of his days.He loved Tony. He truly did.





	Fill My Head with Pieces of a Song

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for [FrostIron Fic Rec](https://dailyfrostironficrec.tumblr.com/)'s September 2017 prompt - Merperson AU.
> 
> Beta-ed by [totallynotevil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallynotevil). 
> 
> References/Quotes   
>  Title from "Bloom" by The Paper Kites.

Loki swam, twisting his body and slashing his tail through the waves. The currents fought but were no match for his powerful strokes and even stronger determination.

He had to leave. He was the monster that parents told their children about at night. He could not stay.

Even if he could, he would not want to. Not after his adoptive family's lies had led to the loss of a life at Loki's unwitting hands. 

*

"Whoa, what do we have here? Is that tail? Um, there's no polite way to ask this so I'm just going to go for it. Are you a mermai- um, merman?"

"I am Loki."

"Huh, cool name, Loki Doki."

"And you are?"

"Tony."

" _Help me_ , Tony."

"What do you need?"

*

Tony found him.

Or rather, Loki found the man who lived in the glass house on the edge where land met sea but he liked the sound of Tony finding him better. Because he was adrift, floating aimlessly across the wide expanse of the ocean and finding no place to call his own. Tony gave him a home.

So really, Tony found him because Loki had been too lost to find even himself, let alone anyone else.

*

"–keeping a merman in a tank? What the hell was I thinking? This is a colossally bad idea and–"

" _Silence!_ "

"..."

"I...I apologize. I should not have lost my temper.  _Please forgive me_."

"...I do, I forgive you, Loki Doki."

"I am happy here with you, Tony. I do not feel trapped and  _you need not feel guilty_."

*

An enormous tank, outfitted with a custom audio system so they could communicate, was ordered and delivered that same day, thanks to Tony's impressive wealth. It took a bit of careful maneuvering and an extended water-slide to get Loki out of the ocean and into his new home, a harrowing process that turned hilarious in hindsight. The tank was placed in the center of Tony's workshop, as it was where he spent most of his time and Loki preferred to spend all of his time near Tony.

The harsh fluorescent lights were exchanged for softer ones that glowed blue, green, and purple - the colors of the ocean. 

After their talk, Tony had finally stopped fretting about the size of Loki's tank and worrying that any confinement would feel like a prison for someone accustomed to the vastness of the open waters.

Loki found the walls comforting because as long as he was within them, he would never be lost.

*

"–you do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around, that's what it's all about!"

"..."

"C'mon, Loki Doki! Do the hokey pokey with me."

"No."

"Aw, why not? Is it because you don't have legs? You can just do the arms. See? C'mon, Loki Do–"

" _Stop calling me that!_  I care not for your silly nicknames or songs."

"Fine, Loki. Whatever."

*

Their relationship wasn't perfect but the imperfections made it all the more precious. Tony could be infuriating and Loki's patience ran thin, but they always came back together before the night was over.

Tony would press his forehead and palms against the cool glass, warming the surface and leaving fingerprints behind as he mumbled words of apology. Loki would accept and return those sentiments readily, mirroring the pose from the other side and tracing the smudges long after Tony had gone to bed.

Little reminders that Loki wasn't alone and never would be again.

*

"Tony, what is wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know."

"Want to tell me about it?"

"No, not really."

"In my experience, naming the demons that haunt you robs them of their hold.  _Come, sit by me and speak what troubles you_."

"...alright, Loki."

*

Tony was in need of someone to look after him, even if he would never admit it. Humans had biological needs that must be addressed or they would perish, yet Tony had somehow learned to mute the alarm bells of his self-preservation instincts.

Loki reminded Tony to eat, to fuel his body after working tirelessly on his next invention.

Loki urged Tony to sleep, to rest his eyes after squinting at floating screens.

Loki asked Tony to talk, to unload the words knotting his brows and weighing his heart.

They were good for each other.

* 

"I love you."

"I... Um. I, well, um. You know..."

"It is alright, Tony. I know.  _You love me_."

"Yeah, that. What you said right there."

"Such eloquence."

"Hey!"

*

Loki adored Tony's voice, he wrapped it around himself like bandages to sooth the wounds from his former life. He could spend hours listening to the human as he prattled about his workshop and tinkered with his inventions. Tony was brilliant, creating impossible beauties and crafting marvelous contraptions. 

Every so often, Loki chimed in with a suggestion or asked for clarification and Tony would light up with such shocked joy at these expressions of interest. It was clear that Tony had been lonely before he found Loki and Loki was more than happy to keep Tony company. He had nowhere else he would rather be. 

Tony grounded Loki, anchored him with one glance of his expressive brown eyes and the slightest curve of that full mouth. 

* 

"They're issuing tsunami warnings, Loki. Any idea what's going on?"

"They are coming for me."

"That sounds ominous. Who?"

"...my former brother, most likely."

"Former? What's that mean?"

" _Let us speak no more of this._  It is not a subject I wish to revisit, what is done is done. I have rid myself of them and they have rid themselves of me."

"...should we evacuate?"

"No, I will take care of it.  _Trust me_ , my love, no harm will come to you or our home."

"I trust you."

*

Loki should have known his happiness would not last. Everything good in his life only existed to deliver more heartbreak when he eventually lost them.

The merpeople of Asgard had lauded his silver tongue but their praises turned to scorn when they learned of his true lineage. Frigga had looked at him with such affection but she hid her face when Odin passed his judgement of eternal imprisonment. Thor had vowed to keep him safe but he reported Loki's innocent mistake to the court.

Loki hadn't wanted to see what awaits above the surface, hadn't known how his words – his voice – would affect a human, and certainly hadn't meant for the woman Thor was chatting with to obey his jest of following them home.

She drowned because Loki had believed he was a merman.

He wasn't.  

*

"I have a confession to make, my love.  _Please allow me to finish before you say anything_."

"..."

"I...I am not a merman."

"..."

"I am a siren."

*

Thor came to them in the most dramatic fashion possible, perched atop a tidal wave that reached the first floor of Tony's cliff-side home, where the workshop was located.

Loki hissed, his tail slashed through the water in a clear sign of his agitation. 

Tony laid a soothing hand against the glass, agile fingers tapping a reassuring rhythm. He ignored Thor's accusations of Loki's manipulations, heeding Loki's warning that Thor would attempt to drive them apart.

The way Thor gestured toward Tony made Loki's blood boil, as though his love was no more than a piece of evidence for further condemnation. 

Thor raised his hammer as he lamented Loki's poor choices of enslaving another human's mind and forcing his hand to end it all. 

With a nod from Loki, Tony activated the harpoon cannon. It slid soundlessly from of the hidden panel and speared Thor with deadly accuracy. The auto-rewind function whirred to life as it pulled Thor out of the life-sustaining water and into the desiccating heat of land. 

Tony twitched at the sound of Thor's howl but calmed when Loki whispered words of comfort. 

The waves crashed against the rocks, desperate to pull their golden son back and doomed to fail.  

*

"You need to come with me, brother–"

"I am not your brother! I never was."

"This is madness, what you are doing here. Ensnaring this man's mind."

"His name is Tony and he loves me."

"How can it be love when he has no choice?"

" _Tell him_ , tell him that you have a choice and you have chosen me."

"I have a choice and I have chosen Loki."

*

Their new home was located in upstate New York, a state bordering a different ocean.

There was a circular space through the center of the property, where a giant cylindrical tank was placed. It allowed Loki to travel between the floors easily and provided them constant contact with each other.

When Tony screamed in his sleep, Loki was there to sooth him back to slumber with a song.

**Author's Note:**

> [dls-ao3.tumblr.com](https://dls-ao3.tumblr.com/)


End file.
